Just Say 50: Sire Records 50th Anniversary Box.
When I was a kid of meager means and limited disposable funds, but also infatuated with "different" music, it didn't take long to develop a set of criteria for picking out new and interesting albums especially when there was no way to hear what you were buying beforehand.
One of the key factors was "label." You usually couldn't go wrong with one of the indie/punk imprints such as Dischord, SST, or Epitaph but those selections didn't often turn up on the shelves of the record stores in the closest mall, an hour away, much less the even more restricted local Walmart. But two labels that I did come to rely on were Enigma, which we've discussed before, and Sire. Sure, Sire had Madonna but it also had the Ramones. Sure, there was Climax Blues Band, but there was also Flamin' Groovies. So you never really knew what you were going to get. I like that.
This box set was released for Record Store Day in 2017 and I completely missed it. You may remember Sire's 90s sampler series "Just Say..." -- the title changed with every issue -- well this box takes the concept of that series and chronologically condenses the entirety of Sire's output to 4 albums, starting in 1969 with a cover of Bob Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" by Maria Valez and continues through to 1995 with "In The Meantime" by Spacehog. In between those two extremes is everything you could want from a college radio station. You get Brian Wilson's "come back" with "Love And Mercy" and Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson." There is EDM, industrial, indie, power pop, punk, garage, synth pop... and Madonna. It really is an incredible collection.
If you grew up listening to your local college station in to the wee hours in the 80s and 90s, this your compilation. I mean just look at this playlist:
1 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry performed by Martha Velez
2 Hocus Pocus performed by Focus
3 Mother Russia performed by Renaissance
4 Couldn't Get It Right performed by Climax Blues Band
5 Shake Some Action performed by Flamin' Groovies
6 Blitzkrieg Bop performed by Ramones
7 (I'm) Stranded performed by The Saints
8 Aloha Steve & Danno performed by Radio Birdman
9 Psycho Killer performed by Talking Heads
10 Blank Generation performed by Richard Hell & The Voidoids
11 Ca Plane Pour Moi performed by Plastic Bertrand
12 Pop Muzik performed by M
Disc 2
1 One Step Beyond performed by Madness
2 Come On Let's Go performed by The Paley Brothers
3 Brass in Pocket performed by Pretenders
4 Rescue performed by Echo and The Bunnymen
5 Mirror in the Bathroom performed by The English Beat
6 Tainted Love performed by Soft Cell
7 Genius Of Love performed by Tom Tom Club
8 Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy performed by Kid Creole And The Coconuts
9 Everybody performed by Madonna
10 Don't Go performed by Yaz
11 Everything Counts performed by Depeche Mode
12 White Horse performed by Laid Back
Disc 3
1 Hand in Glove performed by The Smiths
2 The Walk performed by The Cure
3 Im Nin'alu performed by Ofra Haza
4 Oh L'Amour performed by Erasure
5 Reach performed by Martini Ranch
6 At Last performed by Jimmy Scott
7 Alex Chilton performed by The Replacements
8 Fire Woman performed by The Cult
9 Dirty Blvd. performed by Lou Reed
10 I'll Be Your Everything performed by Tommy Page
11 Love and Mercy performed by Brian Wilson
Disc 4
1 O.G. Original Gangster performed by Ice-T
2 Jesus Built My Hotrod performed by Ministry
3 The Wagon performed by Dinosaur Jr.
4 Come Together performed by Primal Scream
5 Twisterella performed by Ride
6 Crazy performed by Seal
7 Constant Craving performed by kd lang
8 Brian Wilson performed by Barenaked Ladies
9 Chickamauga performed by Uncle Tupelo
10 Box Full of Letters performed by Wilco
11 In the Meantime performed by Spacehog
